224 THE LANGUAGES OP THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. 
apt to mislead. A true system would be one founded not 
on particular characters, but on the relative degrees in which 
different characters exist in each object. No other system 
can express the actual affinities and differences of objects, 
and present each at once in its individual completeness and 
in its entire relationship to others. At present, in vocal 
sounds individuals are grouped according to some prominent 
common character. We should begin by ascertaining each 
characteristic of the vocal sounds, and how far it is found in 
every consonant; and then endeavour to express the rela¬ 
tive degrees in which each partakes of the different vocal 
characters. Our classification should be based on this. 
On comparing the different consonants, we find that in 
some there is heard a more or less decided sound of air 
passing through an aperture or cavity, or being continuously 
obstructed 5 while in others there is the sound of the sudden 
release of obstructed air. The one kind of sounds are pro¬ 
longed, the other momentary. The first kind, we find, are 
again distinguishable into those in which the passage is wide, 
but of small depth in proportion to the quantity of the air or 
force of the current 5 and those in which the opening is less 
wide, but the volume of air smaller in proportion to it. The 
first, in which the air makes most noise, may be termed the 
strong aspirate or simply the aspirate, and the second the, 
weak aspirate. The broad and shallow opening which pro¬ 
duces the aspirate sound may be formed at the back of the 
vocal chamber, by the approximation of the root of the 
tongue to the soft palate, winch produces the sound called 
h ; in the palatal dome, by the approximation of the margin 
of the tongue to the palate, which produces j, ch, when the 
opening is less broad, and when broader a palatal s, z; in 
the front of the chamber, by the approximation of the teeth, 
which produces the common dental or sibilant s, z ; by the 
application of the teeth of one jaw to the lip of the other, 
or less easily and naturally by the partial meeting of the lips, 
which produces f, v ; by the firm application of the lips to 
each other save at one opening only producing w, which 
however is rather intermediate between the aspirates and 
weak aspirates. It will be seen that in this series of aspir¬ 
ates their sound, like the vowel series, is modified by the 
length of the vocal tube, varying from the minimum, where 
its mouth is near the root of the tongue (A), to the maxi¬ 
mum, when its mouth is at the lips ( w ). 
The weak aspirates, we find, are of two descriptions, the 
oral, or those in which the air passes out through the mouth. 
